Local carmakers miss 2021 sales target amid pandemic struggles

MANILA, Philippines — Local car manufacturers failed to hit their sales target last year despite showing signs of recovery, with the industry itself admitting it won’t be business as usual as long as the pandemic drags on.

What’s new

A total of 268,488 vehicles were sold in 2021, 20% bigger compared with a year ago, according to a joint report by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) released Wednesday.

That was below the target that the local automotive industry set in August. CAMPI and TMA was hoping to sell 295,400 units in 2021, or equivalent to an annualized growth rate of 20.9%.

Not even the improved sales in the final month of 2021 could help carmakers hit their full-year sales goal. Data showed a total of 27,846 vehicles were sold in December, up 5.3% month-on-month but only 0.9% bigger when compared with a year ago. Nevertheless, CAMPI and TMA said December’s figure was the industry’s highest monthly sales performance since the pandemic hit in March 2020.

Why this matters 

Vehicle sales are often used as barometers of economic strength. The central bank, for instance, closely follows this to measure consumer appetite for durable goods. Household consumption represents 70% of annual economic output, and big purchases like cars materially add to gross domestic product when produced more.

What VIPs say

CAMPI President Rommel Gutierrez did not comment on the industry’s failure to hit its goal, and struck a cautiously optimistic tone as he admits that carmakers are not out of the woods yet two years into the pandemic.

But Gutierrez stressed that the 20% annual growth last year “is no small feat indeed.”

"The industry remains optimistic for a continued recovery this year from the COVID-19 pandemic downturn as progress on inoculation has provided hopes for a better outlook for the wider economy, but ‘business as usual’ is still unlikely as challenges remain at hand," Gutierrez said.

Other figures

• Of the total sales last month, commercial vehicles accounted for 69.67%. Cars sold under this segment increased 6.3% month-on-month to 19,399.
• Sales of passenger cars, which owned a 30.33% market share, slowed 2.95% month-on-month to close the year at 8,205.